Week 7 - MacMillan Cancer Support / Little Princess Trust

I suspect that cancer charities will come up quite regularly here.  I'm sure we have all been affected by cancer and there are many, many different charities raising money for different aspects of the disease.  This one is rather unusual and quite a cute story.  It was brought to my attention via a network of Marillion fans (this may prove to be a regular feature!)

Ben Fisher posted the following message on the 'Marillion and fans' Facebook group:

"My 12 year old son Jacob hasn't had his hair cut for 3 years so its pretty long and he's very very proud of it. Last week out of the blue he said I'm shaving my hair off for the MacMillan Cancer trust and I'm donating the hair to the Little Princess trust that makes wigs for kids suffering from cancer."

Macmillan Cancer Support are very well known for their work in helping people through cancer.  They provide specialised nurses and health care professionals in their cancer care centres.  They provide financial advice and support to cancer sufferers, their families and their carers.  And they campaign to fight discrimination against those that are suffering from cancer or have been debilitated by the disease.

The Little Princess Trust is one I've not heard of before.  They provide real hair wigs for children who have lost their hair following cancer treatment.  You don't need to be as drastic as shaving it all off - if you are going from a long hairstyle to a short one your hair can be donated.  It takes at least five heads of donated hair to create one wig.  They also fundraiser to purchase wigs where necessary - these cost around £350 each.

These are two inspiring charities and Jacob's decision to support them is also an inspiration.  Jacob's fundraising page is HERE.

Week 6 - Ummah Welfare Trust

Eid Mubarak!

As this is an auspicious time in the Muslim calendar I thought I'd donate to a Muslim charity.  I have no personal belief in Islam but I know that charity (zakat) is an important part of the faith and of Ramadan so it felt appropriate for this week.

The charity I've chosen is Ummah Welfare Trust.  They work on many projects around the world and you can choose the project that your donation goes to.  I've chosen their Girls Academy, a safe environment for girls to learn which they are currently fundraising to build.  The site of the academy is the Sunderbans in West Bengal, India, an area where almost 50% of the population exist below the poverty line.  Amidst this poverty girls are increasingly forced into marriage with wealthy men or into prostituion.  The academy aims to house around 300 girls from the area who are prone to exploitation.

100% of charitable donations to Ummah Welfare Trust go to the project you are supporting.  Money for administration is raised and accounted for separately (through sales in their charity shops, Gift Aid and specific donations).

Week 5 - The Doghouse Sanctuary

As Marillion's charity raffle last week was doing so well, their manager Lucy decided to do her own.  I missed the actual raffle but decided to make it this week's donation anyway.

Lucy is raising money for The Doghouse Sanctuary who work to rehabilitate and rehome stray dogs in Northern Ireland.  They also use their donations to neuter dogs to try to reduce the number of unwanted litters in the area.

Week 4 - Crohn's and Colitis UK

OK, a bit of a cheat this week.  My £5 donation has a possible bonus for me but it's still a full fiver to charity so I'm happy it counts!  My favourite band Marillion are doing a raffle to win a huge poster that was displayed at their recent Weekend in Port Zelande in the Netherlands.  They have chosen Crohn's and Colitis UK as their charity for this particular competition.  This charity helps people with inflammatory bowel diseases live a better quality of life along with raising awareness of the conditions and funding research to ultimately find a cure.

Marillion are a rock band who are an inspiration to their thousands of devoted fans around the world.  They produce thoughtful and emotional music; sometimes dark and brooding, sometimes uplifting and joyous; sometimes deeply personal to lyricist Steve Hogarth, sometimes detailing personal stories such as that of ocean rower Don Allum or speed record breaker Donald Campbell and sometimes dealing with global issues such as the situation in Gaza.  They have raised thousands of pounds for various charities throughout the years, running raffles at their biennial Weekends.

The link to the raffle is https://www.justgiving.com/Marillion-Official or to donate to Crohn's and Colitis UK directly go to https://www.justgiving.com/crohnsandcolitisuk